WORLD : S. Africa Judge Rules for CBS News
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of CBS News today, saying police cannot confiscate news footage merely on the suspicion that it might contain evidence of a violation of emergency regulations.
Judge Jeff Levison ordered the Law and Order Ministry to pay court costs and return the original news tape that had been seized Feb. 9 from a free-lance cameraman working for CBS. Police had allowed CBS to make a copy of the tape, which showed a lawyers’ meeting in a church during the national hunger strike by people detained without charge under the three-year national state of emergency.
The emergency regulations require a policeman to form an opinion that an action endangers the public safety before it can be stopped or evidence seized, Levison said.
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